Creamy Chickpea Coconut Curry with Spinach

Steps

1. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or deep skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until soft and lightly golden.
   ⏱ Soften onion: 6 min
2. Add the garlic, ginger, curry powder, cumin and tomato paste and stir constantly until very fragrant.

   Toasting (how to toast)

   Toast Heat nuts, seeds, spices or bread crumbs in a dry pan or oven until fragrant and lightly browned. 1. Spread them in a dry skillet over medium-low heat, or on a sheet pan at 350°F.2. Shake the pan or stir often.3. Watch and smell: the moment they smell nutty, they are close.4. Tip them onto a plate right away; the hot pan keeps cooking them. Done when: They are fragrant and a shade darker. Small seeds take 1 to 3 minutes; nuts in the oven 5 to 10. How to toast nuts, seeds, spices and bread: mistakes to avoid

   the spices wakes up their flavor.
   ⏱ Toast spices: 1 min
3. Add the chickpeas, tomatoes with their juices, coconut milk and salt. Stir and bring to a gentle

   boil (how to boil)

   Boil Heat liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. 1. Use a pot big enough that the water fills it no more than three quarters.2. Cover it to boil faster, over high heat.3. Salt pasta or vegetable water once it boils.4. Add the food, stir, and bring it back to a boil before you start timing. Done when: A rolling boil keeps bubbling hard even when you stir. Safety: Turn pot handles toward the back of the stove, and drain pasta into a colander in the sink, pouring away from you. Steam burns fast: lift lids and foil away from your face, tipping the far edge up first.How to boil water for pasta and vegetables: mistakes to avoid

   .
4. Lower the heat and

   simmer (how to simmer)

   Simmer Cook liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles breaking the surface now and then. 1. Bring the liquid up over medium-high heat.2. As soon as bubbles rise steadily, turn the heat down.3. Adjust until only a few small bubbles break the surface every second or two.4. Stir now and then and check that it hasn't crept back to a boil. Done when: You see lazy, small bubbles, not a rolling boil. A "bare" simmer has just a bubble here and there. Safety: Steam burns fast: lift lids and foil away from your face, tipping the far edge up first.How to simmer: mistakes to avoid

   , stirring now and then, until the sauce thickens a bit. Mash a few chickpeas against the side of the pot to make it creamier.
   ⏱ Simmer: 15 min
5. Stir in the spinach a handful at a time until wilted, then add the lime juice. Taste and add salt if needed.
   ⏱ Wilt spinach: 2 min
6. Serve over rice or with naan, topped with cilantro.

Tap an underlined word for how to do it, or see all techniques.

Tips

• Curry powders vary in heat. Start with mild and add a pinch of cayenne if you like it spicier.
• Light coconut milk works but makes a thinner sauce.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 4 days or freeze up to 3 months. It tastes even better the next day.

Make ahead

Make the whole curry ahead and reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it's thick.

Cook once, eat twice: Double it (8 servings instead of 4), eat half and freeze the other half. It keeps 3 months frozen, by the storage note above. Print a freezer label · More freezer meals

How long leftovers keep, and freezing and reheating: leftovers and storage. In season: spinach (March to May and September to November).